Making LCA More True to Life: A New Standard Protocol to Improve Accuracy and Enable Comparability of LCA’s

1. Making LCA More True to Life: A New Standard Protocol
to Improve Accuracy and Enable Comparability of LCA’s
Jeff Mendelsohn, New Leaf Paper @newleafpaper

2. Making LCA More True to Life
A New Standard Protocol to Improve Accuracy and Enable Comparability of LCA’s
Jeff Mendelsohn
Founder & Chair

4. © 2015 New Leaf Paper. All rights reserved. www.newleafpaper.com 888-989-5323
Paper Task Force Report
“…the Task Force chose to examine the
entire lifecycle of paper, literally from the
forest to the landfill…”
Pioneering Lifecycle Analysis: 1992-1995

5. • 50 visits to manufacturing, recycling and forestry sites
• 400+ research meetings and discussions
• 200 sets of written comments
• 125+ Participating companies including most major
paper manufacturers and printers.
• Transparency with data
• Full life cycle including Scope 3 impacts
• Critical review process
© 2015 New Leaf Paper. All rights reserved. www.newleafpaper.com 888-989-5323
Paper Task Force Report
Setting a precedent for LCA Standards

6. “Paper purchasers should maximize their
overall use of paper with postconsumer
recycled content, consistent with functional
and economic considerations.”
The Paper Calculator (1995-Present)
Pioneering NEW METRIC
Launched with the Office of the Federal Environmental Exec
Millions in use by major corporations
- Paper Task Force Report

7. Aveda
Environmental Calculator FY15
5,405 trees preserved for the future
169,105 lbs of solid waste not created
363 lbs of water pollutants not created
465,781 lbs net GHG emissions prevented
2,526,203 gallons of water saved
155 million BTU’s of energy not consumed
82,224 lbs of GHG emissions not generated
© 2015 New Leaf Paper. All rights reserved. www.newleafpaper.com 888-989-5323

8. Paper Task Force Report
ISO 14025 - Environmental labels & declarations -- Type
III environmental declarations – Principles & procedures
ISO 14044 Environmental Management – Life Cycle
Assessment – Requirements & Guidelines
ISO 14064 …Quantification & Reporting of Greenhouse
Gas Emissions & Removals
The Greenhouse Gas Protocol Product Life Cycle
Accounting & Reporting Standard
LEO-SCS-002. Working through the ANSI accreditation
process to become a national stanard
ISO 14064 Review underway to upgrade climate
accounting metrics.
© 2015 New Leaf Paper. All rights reserved. www.newleafpaper.com 888-989-5323
LCA Standards History
1992 – 1995
2006
2006
2006
2011
2012+
2015+

9. ISO standard allows too much wiggle room
Wild West of LCA Reporting
• “Mirror, mirror, on the wall…” Self referential
• Major LCA impact sources excluded (including Scope 3)
• Severe under accounting for global climate impacts
• Lack of transparency or critical review
• Impossible to compare
© 2015 New Leaf Paper. All rights reserved. www.newleafpaper.com 888-989-5323

10. “…the world will exceed thresholds
of irreversible climate change
by as soon as 2035, when
the global mean temperature
is projected to be +1.5°C higher
than in pre-industrial times.”
© 2015 New Leaf Paper. All rights reserved. www.newleafpaper.com 888-989-5323
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC Fifth Assessment Report)
The standard 100 year
time horizon for climate
metrics is somewhat
arbitrary…
A 20 year time horizon
is based on tipping point
science

11. © 2015 New Leaf Paper. All rights reserved. www.newleafpaper.com 888-989-5323
Current climate metrics
do not consider the 60%
of global radiative forcing
caused by short-lived
climate forcers.
Black Carbon
Methane 24x 100x CO2

12. © SCS Global Services | 12
Black Carbon: The Most Important Climate
Pollutant You May Have Missed in your LCA

15. Transparency
Comparability
Accuracy – update Climate Impact Metrics
Holistic – integrate major impacts incl Scope 3
Iterative & Efficient Process
Critical Review
© 2015 New Leaf Paper. All rights reserved. www.newleafpaper.com 888-989-5323

16. © 2015 New Leaf Paper. All rights reserved. www.newleafpaper.com 888-989-5323

17. October 8th 11:00 – 12:00pm